Shoulder leveling and finishing machine



E. S. LUCAS SHOULDER LEVELING AND FINISHING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed June l2, 1930 l ,gn/vanto E .,SLue a s sept. 1, 1931.

Sept. 1, 1.931.

E. s. LUCAS SHOULDER LEVELING AND FINISHING MACHINE Filed June 12,' 19304 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. l, 1931. s. LUCAS 1 SHOULDER LEVELING ANDFINISH'ING- MACHINE' l Filed June 12, 119:50 4 sheets-sheet s Sept. 1,1931. E. s. LucAs SHOULDER LEVELING AND FINISHING MACHINE Filed June 12.1930 4 sheen-sheet 4 i J \w w I 1 k I ik l l 1 5) Il |I I 0 0 l o o Hw Ix Q Patented Sept. 1,y 1931Y UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE EARL. S.LUCAS, AVO, lII'WA, SS'IGNGR UF ONE-HALF TO FRANK J. MORAN, OF5Y NEBRASZKA 'SHOULDER ,AND INISHING MACHINE animaba nea :une i2, semi Na.icogsse.

This invention relates 'to blades and screw conveyers particularly in amachine for l,finishing the shoulders on either-side of a paved highway.y A

In laying down and vnonstrclcting modern highways, it is the practice,at least in certain portions of the country, to provide on each side ofthe highway a relatively wide dirtA shoulder, as it is termed, on whichears may be parked, etc. These shoulders extend laterally from the-concrete highway an'dfat their side edges usually dip vdountoward to alevel with the surface -o'f the ground.

The 'object of my invention v1s to provide a machine designed lto runupon the paved highway itself, which will inish, level and grade theseshoulders and which machine is preferably provided with a conveyorordistributor, acting to distribute the dirt, kwhich '20 is ordinarilypiled or dumped more "or `less closely to the highway itself, ever theshoulder, and which is provided with a scraper which will level thisdirt and grade or finish the shoulder and which will grade or iinish offorming this shoulder so that this dirt may be more readily acted uponby 'the distributor and by the main scraper.

A further object is to provide 'a rotary brush operating behind the mainscraper `and distributor and operating over the 'margin of thel pavedportion of the highway, the brush acting to sweep the -dirt from theconcrete margin of the highway 'on to theshoulder,

said brush to be set on 45 degree angle.y

Further objects are, of course, to provide means whereby these variousinstrumentalities may be operated, raised, lowered and ad# the slope ofthe cutermargin of the shoulder. Y

shift the dirt which has been ldumped along v the margin of the highwayforthe purpose justed in accordance with the requirements l ofthespecial case. n @ther objectswill appear in the course of the `followingdescription.

My invention is illustrated in the accom-v 'i panying drawings, whereinFigure 1 is a top plan view of a shoulder v finishing machineconstructed inaccordance with my invention;

VFigure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation 'ff ofthe leveling blade, thedistributor and the su ports therefor;

igure 3 is a like view to Figure 2, but `vshowing the auxiliary levelingblade angled;

Figure 4 isa side elevation of the scaritier,

the leveling blade, the distributor and the brusln;`

y Figure "5 is an elevation of the scariier;

Figure 6 is an elevation showing the manner in which the auxiliary blademay be raised, lowered or otherwise adjusted;

Figure 7 is a sectional View of a transmis- .sion mechanism.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates a motor truck or any othermotor propelled'n truck chassis having the usual front steering wheels11, the motor 12 and the rear driving wheels 13 and the driving shaft14. In this 4truck, the operators seat 15 is preferably disposedadjacent the rear end of the trucln Y Bolted to the truck frame orchassis and extending laterally therefrom, in either di- Y rection, hutpreferably toward the right are the transverse fra-me beams 16 and 17which may be made of angle iron, channel iron or have any, otherordinary structural shape. 'These beams are braced by the verticalstruts 18and the truss beams 19 which extend downward .from these strutsto the ends of Vthe transverse beams to which they are bolt.

section and which are ,preferably bolted or v riveted to the beams 16and 17.y Hingedly connected at their forward ends to any suitableportion of the frame formed by the members 16 and 17 and 21 are the drawbars 22. These draw bars may be pivoted by bolts to the side walls ofthe longitudinal channel bars 21 or may be swung from the bar 16.

f These draw bars extend rearward and are downwardly curved at theirrear endsand The draw bars support a scraper blade 23. adj acont theirrear ends are connected to and carry the transversely extending crossbar 24 which braces these draw bars butholds them in proper spacedrelation and permits the draw bars to move upward and down#V ward as aunit.

Extending though the extremities oi' the braces 21 are the adjustingscrews '25 which have swivel engagement with the transverse bar 24 andby rotating these screws, thel scraper blade may be adjusted up or downand disposed, if desired, at a slight inclination or angle to thehorizontal.

The scraper blade has forwardly projecting ears 26 at its ends andmounted in these ears is a shaft 2T carrying'ujion it a screw conveyor28, the conveyor acting will be explained, as a distributor. Theconveyor shaft is connected by a universal joint connection :28a'with ashaft 29 which in turn is connected by a universal driving connection 30with a shaft 31 disposed within a power unit housing 32. The drivingconnection to this shaft 31 will be later stated. to say that by thismeans, the power can be at all times applied to rotate the shaft'27 andthe screw conveyor or distributor while the blade and the conveyor ordistributor are raised or lowered to suit the circumstances ofoperation.

Preferably and in order to forma down wardly and outwardly inclinedsurface at the outer edge4 of the shoulder, l providea4 j .scrapersection 23a which is hingedly connected to the main scraper blade Q3 sothat it Y may be raised into alinement with the scraper blade 23 ordisposed downward at an an- `gle thereto. For this purpose, l haveprovided the scraper 23a with an upwardly eXtending arm 33 from which acable 34 leads yto the body of the machine so that by taking up' uponthis cable, the blade 23u may be raised.`

i By slacking on the cable, the blade may be lowered. The shaft 27connects by flexible driving connection 35 to a shaft section 36 whichcarries the screw blade 37 which forms This y wing or auxiliary blade28d is braced `against i an extension of the screw blade 28.

strain in any suitable manner.

Mounted upon the beam 1.6, preferably for l. transverse adjustment andfor verticalV ad` just-nient, is a` small scraper blade 3S dis-f posedat a slight inclinationto aycitical plane, thisscraper blade being forthe pui'- pose of engaging heaps of dirt dum cd beside the roadway andinitia ly breakingup Suffice it this dirt and shifting it laterally sothat it may be engaged first by the distributor or conveyor blade 28 andthen by the scraper lglade 27. This blade 38 need only be relativelyshort. Preferably, the blade is supported :by vertical members or guides39 upon a carriage l() whischcarriagef has wheels 41 engaging with theflanges of the beam 16 so that the blade mayv be shiftedlaterally in orout., For this purpose, the carriage is connected by a link to anadjusting lever 43 operating over an arcuate rack dal.. Disposed viensthat'nian i dilierent means mic/ht be used-for adjusting the blade 3Slaterally uponthebeanrll and adjusting the blade 38 vertically.

A scariiier eoinpfrisng a scarifying bar 4S) haring downwardlyprojecting teeth may a Iso be mounted upon the beam 1b in any suitablemanner the teeth iio'ectina down- 7 i a vard, andcfmractiug with theearth of the Y so thatv in case this earth packed, the earth: can hescarified or loosened so that it may be more easily treated by thescraper 3S and the main scraper Q3 and the distributor., This scariliermay be mounted for verl tical adjustment if desired and under ordinary'circumstances will be lattaclnible to or detachable from the ibeam 10,as for instance byineans ofb'olts sothat the scaritier may 'be used oi"not as circumstances may require Preferably there is disposed rear ardof the distributing conveyor Q8 and the blade 23 and closely?adjacentthe inner end of the `blade a rotary brush- This is preferably mounted'at its outer end on a link 52 which" Aispiv'ole'd Vto the blade 223.-ne inner end of tliebrush is connected by a flexible coupling tolafsliaft'lfll whichin turn is connected by a il sible* coupling to adrivii'ig sha'ft': power unit housing 22 and secures power therefrom aswill be later stated. A lever 57 mounted-upon a prolongation of the drawbar 22 andinovng over a rack is conneeted` by a link 58:1 52. illy thismeans, the. brush may be raised or `lrnvciel ll'ilepf idently .of thescraper blade 23.A "',lll .rotary ln'ush acts to clean gutter while thetherpaving curo and thel machine is i'yi'ioviiiirg.`

ln order toV guide the machine at a set or fixed 'distance'from thepaving ,lab or edge ine of thefpa""'ig proper and secure a stringht andunforni shoulder line, I providethe guide roller Gl meuntedhpon aforwliich extends into the" to thc-,free vend of the linlz'fwardlyextending arm which may be mounted upon the front axle of the machine.In

operating this machine, the machine will be` that this guide travelsalong this edge. The

shaft 14 is connected to the motor 12 by means of a clutch 59 operatedby means of a clutch pedal disposed adjacent the drivers seat (notshown) and the supplemental power unit which is disposed within thehousing 32 includes a power take-off shaft adapted to be connected bymeans of a clutch 60 with the shaft 14 which leads to the rear drivingwheels. Any suitable connection may be made from the driving shaft 14 tothe power take-off shaft 14a which will include a clutch whereby thepower take-off shaft may be connected to or disconnected from thedriving shaft 14. Inasmuch as power take-off connections of this kindare common and well-known, it is not believed necessary to illustratesuch construction in detail. This power take-off' shaft extends into thepower unit housing 32 and is there connected by suitable gearing to theshafts 31 and 56. Thus the truck may be stopped in its forward movementwithout stopping the action of the distributing conveyor or the brush,the purpose being to provide a construction whereby the truck may beoperated without operating the brush or conveyor or wherebythe truck maybe stopped and the conveyor and brush operated.

The main frame is to be preferably of eight inch channel iron while thesupplemental frame is to be of three inch angle iron bolted to themainframe or chassis. This permits the parts to be disassembled formoving or shipping. The short conveyor and blade 37 and 23a respectivelyat the outer end of the main blade is hinged so that this hinged sectioncan be raised or lowered to any desired position. VThis short blade isapproximately three feet long and when lowered, it may be used for fillsand when raised for closed ditch sections.

The size of the screw conveyor will depend upon the horsepower of them-otor used. I have found in actual practice that a twelve inch conveyorwith a forty or fifty H. P. engine is eminently suitable for the work tobe done under ordinary conditions. The screw conveyor travels veryslowly and acts to auger the dirt outward while the blade immediatelybehind it smooths and shapes the shoulder, the conveyor acting to conveytheV dirt outward and over the edge of the shoulder.

l do not wish to be limited to the details of construction andarrangements of parts,

as obviously these might be changed in many l ways without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, defined in the appended Claims.' l c lI claim 1e- 1. A machine af the] character described,

comprising a motor operated truck, an cle-AE` l ment extending laterallytherefrcm and mounted for vertical adjustment. relativeto the truck, aleveling blade mounted upon said lelement and extending laterally fromthe truck, a screw conveyor mount-ed in front; of the leveling blade andhaving a longitudinally extending shaft, motor driven Connections foroperatingthe shaft, an auxiliary bladeV mounted at the end of the first.named blade for movement inte different angleswith' blade and theshaftwith relaticnto the first named blade of the shaft.

2. A machine ofi the character. described, including a motor truck', ablade extending laterallyt-he-refrom, a screw conveyor acting;

asv a dis ributor and mounted immediately in frcnt of said' blade, motoroperated means for driving the screw conveyor and a short blade mountedin advance of the first named blade and adapted to. engage heaps ofmaterial and'f break up these heaps so that the material may be acted onby the first named blade and dis-- tributor.

3. A machine of the character described,

including a motor truck, a blade extendingiv laterally therefrom, ascrew conveyor acting as a distributor and mounted immediately in frontof the blade, motor operated means for driving the screw conveyor and ashort blade mounted in advance of the first named bladev and adapted toengage heaps of material and break up these heaps so that the materialmay be acted on by the first named blade and distributor, said secondnamed blade bein transversely adjustable.

4. A machine of the character described, including a motor truck, ablade extending laterally therefrom, a screw conveyor acting as adistributor and mounted immediately in front of said blade, motoroperated means for' driving the screw conveyor and a short blade mountedin advance of the first named blade and adapted to engage heaps ofmaterial and break up these heaps so that the material may )eacted on bythe first named blade and dis-1v tributor, saidV second named bladebeing vertically and transversely adjustable.

5. A machine of the character described, comprising a motor operatedtruck, an ele-V ment extending laterally from the truck, af

blade supporting beam mounted below the element, means for verticallyadjusting said beam, a leveling blade operatively mounted upon said beamand vertically adjustable therewith, a screw conveyor mounted upon,

and in front of said blade and acting asa distributor, a driving shaftconnected to the shaft of the screw conveyor by flexible, drivingconnection, and means for driving said shaft from the motor including aclutch whereby the shaft may be disconnected from the motor.

6. A machine of the character described, including a motor truck, aframe extending laterally from the truck, a leveling blade mounted uponthe frame for vertical adjustment, a distributor mounted in front of thebla-de, and a detachable scarifier mounted upon the frame in advance ofthe blade, and a f is "relatively short blade mounted for vertical `andlateral adjustment upon said frame immediately in front of the scariier.

7. In a machine of the character described, a motor truck, a levelingblade extending laterally therefrom and vertically adjustable, a screwconveyor acting as a distributor and mounted immediately in front ofsaid leveling blade, motor operated means for driving thescrew conveyorand a rotary pavement brush mounted behind the bladeand screw conveyorat the inner end of the blade, and

a motor operated means for driving said brush.

In testimony whereof hereunto aflix my signature.

EARL S. LUCAS-

